What were my parents thinking?

I'm sure when I was younger, that this question came to head; but the older I get, the more I realize their wisdom, and I rarely ask this question anymore. But today was one of those days that caused me to ask this question. Now that I am a parent, especially of teenagers, I am much more aware of everything my parents went through!

Today, I took my two 16 year old children to take their temporary license exams. And they both passed. uh-oh - now what do I do? I guess we start driving. So, there was an abandoned parking lot we found to drive around in, far, far away from civilization (well - maybe not too far). They did a great job for their first time. We will see how this goes.

But, I realized how much more nervious I am about them driving than I ever was about driving myself. And that leads me to my title question. In Iowa, you can get your temporary license at age 14...yes, 14! And that is exactly what I did. If I remember right, on my birthday, I took the exam and was driving around Iowa. And don't give me any of those predictable comments about how easy it must be to drive on the open dusty roads next to all cornfields; or how my temporary license was for a tractor. I'm a city boy, my friend! Any way, What were my parents thinking, letting me drive at 14? I'm feeling a little insane about mine driving at 16 and 4 months!

I guess their getting older (glad I'm not). It is a part of the ritual. I will try to make the best of it. And, I also realized another benefit today. We took care of 2 things at once. My son got his temporary license; but if he ever gets arrested, it can double as his mug shot! If you don't believe me, ask him to see it.